Péter Magyar and his Tisza party, having secured a dramatic 52% of the vote last Sunday, are not letting the grass grow under their feet. Their landslide victory, translating to 141 seats in the 199-seat National Assembly, has ended Viktor Orbán's 16-year rule with the efficiency of a guillotine. Orbán's Fidesz party has been reduced from a commanding 135 seats to a rump of 52, with the final count, including recounts and overseas votes, set for this Saturday.
Magyar has already extracted a pledge from President Tamás Sulyok to fast-track the formation of the new parliament to the week of 4 May, paving the way for a new government. Not one to let bygones be bygones, he gave combative interviews to public service broadcasters that had spent two years ignoring or attacking him. His immediate plan for them? To pass laws suspending their news programs until 'impartial editors' can be installed.
Armed with a super-majority of over two-thirds of parliamentary seats, Magyar also plans retroactive legislation to limit a prime minister to two terms. Given that Viktor Orbán has served five, this move would effectively slam the door on any political comeback. Orbán himself finally broke his silence on Thursday in a YouTube interview, stating, 'This is the end of an era,' and admitting to feelings of 'pain and emptiness' while taking personal responsibility for the defeat.
Orbán's post-mortem was notably light on specifics, citing only the failure to complete the Russian-designed Paks 2 nuclear power station, which is six years behind schedule, as a campaign mistake. He stated he would continue to lead Fidesz if re-elected at the party congress in June, but called for 'a complete renewal.' Of Fidesz's 52 new seats, only 10 are from individual constituencies, with the rest from party lists that Orbán suggested needed fresh faces more suited to opposition.
Internal dissent, a rare bird in Fidesz, is beginning to chirp. András Cser-Palkovics, the Fidesz mayor of Székesfehérvár, suggested Orbán need not resign immediately but should wait for a party assessment. The party faces a succession crisis, with no obvious candidate possessing Orbán's skill at managing internal ambitions. US and British advisers had even criticized the main Fidesz slogan, 'the safe choice,' for alienating young voters - a difficult pitch for a party in power for 16 years trying to sell itself as an agent of change.
In a bid to appear dynamic, younger ministers like 47-year-old Péter Szijjártó and 51-year-old János Lázár were paraded at rallies, a tactic that ultimately made the 62-year-old Orbán seem old and tired. The wear of 38 years in politics is now apparent, and a mood of fear and recrimination grips the party. Rumours of imminent corruption arrests swirl in Budapest, and Tisza supporters online are impatient for accountability.
Magyar made his stance brutally clear on Facebook, posting a message to Fidesz leaders: 'It's no use playing the innocent little ballet girl now... We know what you've done... And don't doubt for a single moment that 'you will reap what you sow'.' The message was unambiguous: the era of Orbán is over, and the era of reckoning may have just begun.